Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Environmentalist Shawn Porter contends that the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission rule on disclosure of chemicals used in fracking to tap gas deposits in the Fayetteville shale isn't sufficiently transparent. (As noted here, while Arkansas has proposed requiring disclosure of specific chemicals used, it will allow companies to keep secret the formulas for mixing the chemicals in each well.)

Porter writes a call for objection to the Commission's adoption of the rule without further public hearings.

At a public meeting in Guy, AR (November 9, 2010), Ar Oil and Gas Commission director Larry Bengal went on record stating that chemicals used in fracking would be publicly disclosed in Rule B-19. The AOGC also had a draft of the rule on the AOGC website till the day of the meeting held on December 7th to consider the rule and receive public input.

Unknown to the public, a revised draft (mark-up) was passed out at the meeting that had been changed from the original draft markup on the AOGC website. The revised draft allowed drilling companies to continue withholding information about chemicals used in fracking, calling them proprietary trade secrets. AOGC now says it is prepared to implement the new rule on Jan 15, in spite of the fact that the public never had an opportunity to comment on the final mark-up.

Public disclosure of fracking chemicals lies at the heart of any attempt to hold gas and drilling companies responsible for damage to water and health. AOGC and industry will succeed in keeping that information private unless this key provision in rule B-19 is revised.

AOGC should be challenged and a stay issued to stop the rule from going into effect without full public disclosure of fracking chemicals. We know from studies in other states these fracking compounds are carcinogenic and contain endocrine disrupting compounds. This agency must be held accountable for playing a shell game with its own rulemaking process. Where is the AG's office when the public interest and welfare is at stake? Hiding their heads in the fracking sand?

The Arkansas Democratic Party has waded hip-deep (maybe over its head) into the suddenly hot issue of Confederate statuary. It has called for removal of such monuments to museums or private places.

Another member of Gov. Asa Hutchinson's senior staff is heading for the exit. Kelly Eichler, senior advisor for criminal justice (and a Hutchinson appointee to the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees) has given notice she'll be leaving in a couple of weeks.

Speaking of Donald Trump and in answer to a reader's question: There will be a women's march in Arkansas on Jan. 21, the day after inauguration, as well as the national march planned in Washington.

The Arkansas Public Policy Panel is urging supporters of the Little Rock School District to tell state Board of Education members they oppose applications to be heard this week to dramatically expand the number of charter school seats in the Little Rock School District.

by Max Brantley

Mar 9, 2016

Most Shared

Gospel and R&B singer and civil rights activist Mavis Staples, who has been inspiring fans with gospel-inflected freedom songs like "I'll Take You There" and "March Up Freedom's Highway" and the poignant "Oh What a Feeling" will come to Little Rock for the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the desegregation of Central High.

Most Viewed

A man who says he's a former University of Arkansas student now living in New England has identified himself as the person wearing an "Arkansas Engineering" T-shirt in the Friday white supremacist march in Fayetteville. He apologized for involving UA in the story and to the professor misidentified as being the person wearing the shirt.

The Arkansas Democratic Party has waded hip-deep (maybe over its head) into the suddenly hot issue of Confederate statuary. It has called for removal of such monuments to museums or private places.

Another member of Gov. Asa Hutchinson's senior staff is heading for the exit. Kelly Eichler, senior advisor for criminal justice (and a Hutchinson appointee to the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees) has given notice she'll be leaving in a couple of weeks.

The Arkansas Department of Correction has the drugs it needs to perform an execution and Governor Hutchinson plans to set a date for Jack Gordon Greene to be put to death, a spokesman for the governor said today.

The Hot Springs Sentinel-Record reports that the city of Hot Springs has notified owners of the Arlington Hotel that it must make repairs to address safety concerns by Nov. 8 or the historic hotel must close.